If you are planning to sign up for independent medical insurance, either for yourself, you and your spouse, or your entire family, you often must go through the exchange. The exchange for Washington State is called, the Washington Health Plan Finder (https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/_content/Homepage.html).
This website can be extremely confusing, so we want to help you out. This article below created by WAHPF has tons of great tips for using their website. Hopefully this will answer questions you may run into while enrolling for next year’s plan. Of course, if you need any further help, please call us and a broker would be more than happy to talk to you over the phone, or in person! Also, don’t forget open enrollment for Medicare ends on December 7th, and for individual plans if you would like a Januaruy 1st start date you have until December 15th!
Application Quick Tips
Use these application quick tips when signing up for health insurance through Washington Healthplanfinder.
Username or Password
- To get your username, click “Sign In” on the Washington Healthplanfinder homepage and then “Forgot your username?” Enter your email address to receive an email with your username.
- To reset your password, click “Sign In” on the Washington Healthplanfinder homepage and then “Forgot your password?” Enter your username and follow the prompts on screen to answer your security questions and rest your password.
If you’re still unable to sign in, contact our Customer Support Center at 1-855-923-4633.
Filling Out the Application
Your Official Name
Type your name as it appears on your identification card, including your middle initial.
Tax Information
Married couples who intend to file taxes must claim “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately.” As a married couple, “single filing taxes” isn’t a recognized tax filing status. If a member of the application is claiming “married filing jointly/separately” they must add their spouse to the application, even if their spouse isn’t seeking coverage.
If you’re getting married or divorced, enter the tax filing status that occurred the previous year and then update your status when the marriage/divorce is final.
Household Members
Add all household members, even if they don’t need coverage. Household members include everyone you claim on your taxes, even those who don’t live with you and aren’t seeking coverage. If a household member isn’t seeking coverage, select “No” on the question “Is this person applying for coverage or continuing existing coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder?”
Read more about who you should include in your household.
Permanent Resident Information
If you have an alien registration number, it is located on the back of your U.S. permanent resident card (I-551) in the first line of characters. It has three alpha characters followed by ten numbers. For date of entry, use your “resident since” date on your green card.
Income
Enter your gross monthly income. This is the income you get before taxes or other deductions, including garnishments, over-payments, or child support.
Read more about what income to include on your application.
Employer Sponsored Insurance
If you or your family members are offered insurance through your employer, indicate this on your application so you get the correct eligibility status.
Family Coverage Through Your Employer
If your insurance through work costs less than 9.5% of your household income to cover just you, then any coverage offered to your family by the employer is automatically considered affordable. This is true even if the price to cover your family costs more than 9.5% of your household income.
In this case, your family will not get financial help through Washington Healthplanfinder, but can still enroll. If your employer doesn’t offer family coverage, then they’re still eligible for tax credits.
Your Eligibility
After you submit your application, you’ll find out if you qualify for a Qualified Health Plan, tax credits, or free coverage through Washington Apple Health. This is called your eligibility status. You can click on each household member’s name to see details about their eligibility status.
If you are found conditionally eligible, this means we weren’t able to verify some of the information you gave us. You’ll need to submit additional documentation within 95 days to prove your information is correct. The quickest way to do this is to upload the document(s) to your Washington Healthplanfinder account (see how to do this below).
During the 95-day period, you can still select a plan, pay your premium, and use your benefits. However, if you don’t submit the document(s), you will be disenrolled from your plan.
Uploading Documents
To upload documents to your Washington Healthplanfinder account:
- Scan your documents to your computer
- Save your documents as a GIF or PDF file
- Click the “Action Tab” on your dashboard
- Click “Upload Document”
Your Enrollment
Important information about your application and coverage will be sent to you by mail or email, depending on the notification type you selected on your application.
Coverage Start Dates
If you want your coverage to begin the 1st of next month, you must enroll by the 23rd of the month. If you enroll after the 23rd, your coverage won’t start until the 1st of the following month.
Example: Sally wants her coverage to begin Jan. 1, so she needs to enroll by Dec. 23. If Sally enrolls after Dec. 23, her coverage won’t start until Feb. 1.
Canceling Coverage
If you want your coverage to end by the end of this month, you must cancel by the 23rd of the month. If you cancel after the 23rd, your coverage won’t end until the end of the following month.
Example: Sally wants her coverage to end Oct. 31, so she needs to cancel by Oct. 23. If Sally cancels after Oct. 23, her coverage won’t end until Nov. 30.
Link to article: http://www.wahbexchange.org/new-customers/application-quick-tips/
